Abstract: Effective parts of traditional Chinese medicines, single traditional Chinese medicines and traditional Chinese compound medicines generally have the characteristics of being multi-component, multi-effect and multi-target. Multiple active ingredients can act on the same target, and the same target can correspond to multiple active substances, making the material basis for traditional Chinese medicines to exert their medicinal effects particularly complex and relatively dynamic. The material basis for the medicinal materials or compound medicines to exert their efficacy is different, and the substances with the same efficacy may also replace each other. Therefore, it is a great challenge to accurately describe the pharmacodynamic material basis of medicinal materials and compounds. The key to quality control of traditional Chinese medicines is to determine the quality markers of medicinal materials and compound prescriptions for different diseases, and to strengthen the standardization of traditional Chinese medicines from planting to clinical application. This article reviews the progress of research on relative dynamics of the pharmacodynamic material basis of traditional Chinese medicines.